UpLink impact: How Pinovo is stopping microplastics in the ocean

Norwegian company Pinovo has developed a technology that stops plastic in the paint from entering the ocean.

Declan McAdams, the Chairman and Co-Founder of Pinovo said, “Pinovo does something that is very mundane, which is to remove rust and old paint from painted steel objects before they are repainted. But we do it cleanly.”

Traditional methods of removing paint from ships, bridges and ocean infrastructure are incredibly damaging, leading to more microplastics in the ocean.

Almost 2 million tonnes of microplastic from paint leak into the ocean every year, posing a threat to marine life and entering our food chain. Pinovo's Vacuum blasts off old paint flakes and sucks them up at the same time.

The company was the first startup to join UpLink when it launched in 2020. Pinovo’s impact data shows how the company is accelerating progress on a number of SDGs. In the last 12 months, to April 2023, the company has:

- Collected 3,040kg of paint microplastics

- Reduced grit and waste to landfill by 261 tons

- Prevented the equivalent of 300,000 empty plastic bottles being dumped into the environment

- Reduced the risk of eye injuries, hand-arm vibration syndrome, and hearing loss among its operators.

Watch to learn more about Pinovo’s efforts to reduce microplastics in the ocean.